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Newcastle United’s Gael Bigirimana and Chancel Mbemba faced each other on Sunday, with elimination from the World Cup at stake.

DR Congo and Burundi had to play each othe in a double header, to decide who would go through to the African World Cup qualifying group stage, for Russia 2018.

DR Congo led 3-2 from the first leg and Burundi travelled to Kinshasa to try and claw back that advantage.

Jordan N’Kololo made it 4-2 on aggregate when he opened the scoring after 19 minutes, only for Burundi to hit back with a leveller on the day and 4-3 overall.

Newcastle United’s Gael Bigirimana took a corner (watch footage below) from the left and Mbokani could only help it into his own net.

A penalty from Crystal Palace winger Yannick Bolasie put DR Congo 2-1 up in the 77th minute, 5-3 on aggregate.

Only for there to be late drama as Burundi then scored a penalty in the final seconds of normal time through Fiston Abdul Razak but DR Congo and Chancel Mbemba held on to go through to the qualifying group stages.

Watch the match highlights below (for some reason the final goal is missing from the video footage), Mbemba and DR Congo in white strips.

About the author

Graham Porter

Staff Writer - Did the Entertainers period really happen? Love Newcastle but hate the endless off the field politics - the fans United, will never be defeated.